


a flame burnt out

by werealldreaming



Category: Stormlight Archive - Brandon Sanderson
Genre: Book 04: Rhythm of War Spoilers, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Gen, Grief/Mourning, Secret Sazed (Cosmere), more hurt than comfort...sorry, vorin remembrances
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-13
Updated: 2020-12-13
Packaged: 2021-03-11 05:41:29
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,053
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28040109
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/werealldreaming/pseuds/werealldreaming
Summary: "It's kind of stupid," he says. "I know he's not coming back. I just--it shouldn't have happened.""No," Rlain agrees, attuning Mourning. “He was a good man, and he didn’t deserve this.”or: Rlain, Renarin, and grief. A moment after.
Relationships: Renarin Kholin & Rlain
Comments: 14
Kudos: 62
Collections: nice fics





	a flame burnt out

**Author's Note:**

  * For [berrybIue](https://archiveofourown.org/users/berrybIue/gifts).



> this was written for the 2020 secret sazed for [berrybIue](https://archiveofourown.org/users/berrybIue)!
> 
> also please be aware that this does contain rhythm of war spoilers, so make your choices accordingly

“Renarin.”

Renarin jerks around, clearly caught by surprise, and Rlain winces, wondering if he’s made a mistake in making himself known. He hadn’t wanted to disturb Renarin’s time here.

They’re in what’s starting to be known as the Room of the Fallen, the newly discovered room that holds the statues and graves of the dead Radiants of ages past. And now, a monument to one of the modern Radiants as well.

The statue of Teft is still somewhat unsettling to Rlain—the singers do not Soulcast their dead like this, and in fact it’s still somewhat uncomfortable to consider that Teft will be here _forever_ , immortalized in stone exactly as he had been in life, rather than letting the storms take his body. Just as odd is the lack of Phenandora at his side. The sculptor commissioned to create her likeness isn’t yet finished, and so for now Teft is alone with an empty space beside him, a stark contrast to the pairs of human and spren of the other Radiants in the room.

Renarin notices him in the doorway and his face brightens. “Rlain! It’s good to see you.”

It’s their first meeting after Renarin had returned with Dalinar and the rest of the Alethi army from Emul. Rlain had originally looking for him with a desire to ask him and Glys about how his bond with Tumi works, but that doesn’t feel quite like the respectful thing to do. Not here.

“You as well,” Rlain says, moving into the room to stand next to Renarin. “I’m glad you’re back.”

Renarin hums, a flat sound with no rhythm. It’s taken Rlain some time to get used to this habit of his, but now he’s able to recognize it as a simple sound of acknowledgement. “I’m glad as well. I…missed a lot, when I was away. I wish I could have been here.”

“I’m glad you weren’t,” Rlain says. He finds himself attuning Anxiety at the very thought. “It was…I think you were safer, out on the front.”

And isn’t that ironic, that it had been those left behind that were forced to fight the Fused while those on the battlefield were unable to help?

“Even so.” Renarin fidgets with his sleeve, rubbing the fabric between his fingers. “I was needed where my father was, but I just…I wish I’d been able to help.” He glances up at the statue of Teft. “I always have to hear about my family’s deaths when I’m not there.”

“Your mother?” Rlain doesn’t actually know anything about Renarin’s mother, but it seems the best guess, considering that he knows all of the other members of Renarin’s family.

Renarin nods. “My father and Adolin, too. When Sadeas ambushed them, he came back and told Navani and I that they were already dead. And they weren’t, of course, but. It was hard.”

“I’m sorry.” He remembers that, mostly. He had still been stuck in dullform at the time, and though most memories from then are cloudy, their final bridgerun and the subsequent battle stick out in his mind. He hadn’t realized that Renarin would have been told that his family was dead, though.

“I didn’t believe it,” he confesses. “I didn’t with my mother either, for weeks after she had died. I kept expecting her to come back, for everything to go back to normal. It took me a long time before I finally processed that she was gone for good.”

“And it’s the same for Teft,” Rlain guesses, and Renarin nods, hunching his shoulders slightly.

“It’s kind of stupid,” he says quietly. “I know he’s not coming back. I just—it shouldn’t have happened.”

“No,” Rlain agrees, attuning Mourning. “He was a good man, and he didn’t deserve this.”

“Is it true that Moash killed him?”

His Rhythm changes so quickly it’s almost whiplash, attuning Betrayal without a second thought. “Yes. He came and taunted Kaladin, and then—” He growls, a harsh noise of anger and frustration. “His betrayal is what I cannot process.”

Renarin shakes his head, lost. “I don’t know either. He was Bridge Four, and then he changed, and—I don’t understand. Bridge Four is family. How could he do that?”

“He never saw us as that. He was never part of our family.” It’s the only explanation Rlain can give. He knows it’s simplistic—he doesn’t even know if it’s true, if Moash had truly never cared for any of them. He likely did, at least at one point. But he thinks of what Kaladin had said, of how he’d spoken of giving his emotions to Odium, and he thinks that he wouldn’t be able to understand Moash’s current motivations, even if he tried.

“I suppose so,” Renarin says, sounding uncertain. He doesn’t add anything else, and they stand in silence for several long moments. Finally, Renarin shakes his head and looks back to the monument of Teft. “I don’t care. It doesn’t matter.”

Rlain doubts that’s completely true, but he doesn’t call Renarin on it. He doesn’t want to keep talking about it, and he doesn’t think Renarin does either.

Instead, Renarin turns and heads to one side of the room, where there is a small table. Rlain had noticed it when he’d first arrived at the room, but hadn’t paid attention to what was on it. Now, he can see a fire-setter, and several stacks of paper with prayer glyphwards on them—glyphs for mourning, Rlain assumes. Renarin ignores these in favor of taking a blank piece of paper and brushpen, which are also provided on the table, and carefully sketching out a string of glyphs.

It doesn’t take long for him to finish. The glyphs are shaky, clearly not the professional quality of the pre-made ones provided, but Renarin doesn’t seem to care. He takes the paper and the fire-setter and moves back to Teft’s monument, then frowns and turns to Rlain.

“Do you want to burn a prayer as well?”

Rlain hesitates, then shakes his head. He doesn’t believe in a glyphward’s significance the way Renarin does, and he thinks it wouldn’t fit, for him to pretend. Instead, he tunes the Rhythm of Remembrance as Renarin lights the paper and places it on the base of the statue.

Together, they watch as the paper crumbles to ash.

**Author's Note:**

> i thrive on comments, so if you leave one i will be indebted to you forever. also, don't forget to drink some water and stretch if you need to! <3
> 
> you can find me on tumblr at [ternaryflower53](https://ternaryflower53.tumblr.com)


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